Humanities Books

I found "Open My Eyes, Open My Soul" by Yolanda King to be a wonderful collection of essays by people from all walks of life about their own experience with either intolerance or a gift of tolerance and love.
This is a book the world has been needing. I will frequently refer to it in my speaking engagements and will recommend it along with future editions that will be printed. Thank you Yolanda. You are a blessing to this world.
Carrie bluehawk601@yahoo.com

Everyone has a story to share of a defining moment (or many!) when they see past the surface images to the humanity that connects us heart to heart. I think the best "media pairing" of the message would be this book with the movie, "Love Actually". Both clearly and often joyfully illustrate that no matter what your casual or even paranoid observations regarding the world may be, or your current loss of hope or elevated fears for the future, Love IS all around, and it is everywhere, within everyone, ever eager to burst into bloom. I highly recommend this book, a collection of personal "moments of awakening and realization" to anyone who needs an emotional lift and to anyone who loves and wishes to open their hearts even more. Blessings to you both, dear Yolanda King and Elodia Tate!!! Looking forward to more of the same soon!

This book leaves a lasting impression of love and commonality of the human spirit no matter the race, culture, or beliefs. We are one humanity, one world. Every story shows how people touch each other's lives in a positive way. Both celebrities' stories and "other author" stories remind us that we have so much in common.

Marie McBride

If everyone in the world read this book, all fighting would stop because people would see every other human being as a brother or sister--not someone "different" just because of the color of their skin or their religion or particular culture. This book is a wake-up call that spawns peaceful feelings and longings for a harmonious world. This book is for everyone--not just members of minority groups. I happen to be Caucasian, but reading these heartfelt stories makes me want to shake people who hate and remind them of what Dr. Martin Luther King sacrificed his life for.

This book lifts up, acknowledges, rejoices in, and teaches us about our wonderful differences. We learn through this book that we all receive gifts of lessons and experiences handed down through our cultural ties. It shows us how strong, powerful and united we can be. Share this book with loved ones and those who need to hear the message.

One of the "BEST" investments within our book collections... my wife will not put it down, leave it alone or share it! We simply MUST have to get another copy (and give this one as gifts as well).

EXCEPTIONAL and RADIANT !!

Makes for a wonderful, reasonably priced gift. Photos are magnificent. proverbs are inspiring. Just a great book that I refer to daily. It is not just a coffee table book...though it could be. Every African American home should have one.

Laura

This book has so much to offer both visually, and in motivational comments to inspire thought and creativity.

This is a beautiful book in more than one way. Everything about it is pretty exceptional. From the photographs, to the wise sayings and it's powered me and my girfriend through a couple of hard days already. DEFINITE INVALUABLE PURCHASE!

I gave this book as a Christmas gift and my cousin is still calling to thank me. The Afrocentric nature of this book, the daily inspirational proverbs and stories are beyond wonderful.

If you are serious about becoming a screenwriter, this book will be a valuable addition to your professional library. Lucy goes into depth on subjects other authors ignore or treat lightly. Usually if you can learn one or two things from a screenwriting book, it's worth reading. This book clarifies subjects other authors fail to explain. Lucy not only explains all the loose ends, but ties them together. There are a lot of good books on screenwriting, and this is one of them. Cynthia Whitcomb has a couple of books on screenwriting that you might also want to read.

This book should be a mandatory read for writers of all types and all levels. Story Sense offers the tools to develop an entertaining, clever plot with emotionally and psychologically dimensional characters. It takes you step by step through idea, plot, and character formulation, as well as explains how to develop structure, dramatization, and everything else you need to write the perfect screenplay or fictional story. You will find yourself highlighting passages and constantly refering back to this "bible" throughout your writing journey. Keep this book close by, it has all the answers you need as a writer.

This should be required reading for any type of writer--novelist, screenwriter, playwright. The sections on plot and character development are worth double what this book costs.

Too many "how-to" books on writing perpetrate the image of a writer as a conduit for mysterious creative forces. While I'm not entirely discounting that image, there needs to be a balance between writing as an art and writing as a craft. This book falls firmly in the craft column. It demands you cast aside any artistic pretensions and get down to the plumbing of creating a story. And it doesn't stop with the obligatory pep talk--Lucey shows you how it's done. And he shows it better than any other writing how-to out there.

If I could give this ten stars I would. Highly recommended.

When ordering several books on screenwriting this book caught my eye because of the high ratings afforded it by others. After reading it I fully concur with what others had to say. I went out and purchased DVDs of the four main example films (The Verdict, Terminator, Sleepless in Seattle, and Witness) that Mr. Lucey focuses on and they allowed me to pick up the fine points described in the text. His vast experience in script writing shows through in each of the topics discussed. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. For a detail-oriented individual such as myself, this book met all my expectations. If you are interested in this topic, this book is a "must have" by all means.

I have read many screenwriting books and this is the most complete. It takes you by the hand through each step of the process. I would recommend it to anyone interested in screenwriting. The book even states that if you follow the steps in the 12 chapters it should take you 120 hours and would be equivelent to a college course. No need for any other training. This book is it!

I'm not sure where that silly/cranky "Publishers Weekly" review was actually stolen from (or why Amazon.com saw fit to paste it here), as my librarian can't find the reference, but I have to disagree in any case.

I think it is a good thing that Constans kept each of the chapters brief. I've read this book a couple of times, and each visit is like a tour through the circles of Hell. I mean, imagine watching your family die off, one by one, because of chemical waste that "doesn't exist." Imagine having your young son shot dead as you're driving along.

But... these people pulled through. They aren't hiding from anything. Instead of wallowing in their grief & loss, or packing it down & pretending they could just leave it in the past, they brought it out, they lived in it, and they used their energy and imagination to sieze control of their own lives, and then to begin to have a positive effect on the world around them.

As someone once said in a movie, "If my son could be the last young man who has to die like this, then all my work, all my dedication is nothing more than the very least I could do." I remember that here because it's something that anyone Constans interviewed could have said.

Read it. If you have the least vein of human empathy within you, it'll take you weeks, and it'll hurt. After you put it down, you'll feel like hell for a while. Then you'll find little questions popping into your head, like, "What could I do to make this a better world?"

This book is extremely important and appropriate for our current times. It is a piece of hope. I hope that the courageus people in this book will be seen as role models on how to overcome and teach goodness, rather then destroy and get even after a personal tragedy.
I read this book in awe of these heroes who so openly discuss their intimate experiences for the good of humanity.

An in depth and masterful compilation that demonstrates how people have transformed their sorrow and grief with forgiveness and positive actions. " Beyond One's Own : Healing Humanity in the Wake of Personal Tragedy" displays again and again the strength and creativity of humans in crisis. This timely book presents intimate stories we can use as models and inspiration in this time of crisis.

This book is one of hope. These brave souls somehow have transcended their grief and turned it into something positive. In this time of tragedy we need a reminder such as this to prevent us from getting stuck in own saddness and becoming immobilized.
It is a book to be read over and over again. A sort of Bible to be kept by the nightstand so when we are feeling out of control and are in the throes of dispair, we have a friend to reach out to and be comforted by.

I have never read anything like this book before. It is full of real peoples amazing stories of unthinkable events. The stories are presented so personally and intimately I was first shocked that the author was able to meet these people for the first time and have them open up so freely. I was thankful that I was able to hear these stories as if I were the author sitting at these people's kitchen table as they divulged some of the most intense trauma's and losses that I have ever heard. The beauty and hope that comes out of these strong stories are a true gift to the reader especially since so many of us have felt such enormous grief throughout our own lives. Thank you and enjoy.

I suffer from CFS and I find this book has helped me quite a lot. It's clearly and well written, gatherig all the main facts about this complex illness.

If I could write a book about CFIDS/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, this is the book I would want to have written. It captures the feeling of what it's like to live with CFIDS/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome better than any book I've read (and I've read a lot of books about CFIDS). The author, Dorothy Wall, manages to move seamlessly between the personal and the larger political and medical issues of this debilitating chronic illness.

Wall grapples with many of the questions and issues I've thought about or have been forced to deal with, and which I'm sure many people with CFIDS will relate to. The role reversal of being better informed about CFIDS than the doctors you consult. The effect on your identity when your professional life is interrupted. Dealing with the expectations and advise of well-meaning friends and family. The way CFIDS forces you to reexamine the ethic of pushing yourself to exceed your boundaries and limitations. The desire to "pass" as a healthy person, if only briefly. The difference between accepting the realities of CFIDS and capitulating to them. The strain it puts on your closest relationships with spouse and family members when they are forced to become caregivers. The unexpected small joys and benefits that a constricted, slowed-down life can bring, like an appreciation of the beauty of a flower unfolding. The questions about what CFIDS and related illnesses may portend for our society.

Dorothy Wall's background as an editor and writer show through, in the way the writing is at once spare and lyrical. She can be poetic without being flowery. The simplicity of the writing allowed her meaning to penetrate my CFIDS brain fog, so that I didn't have to read the book in five minute increments.

Let me mention what this book ISN'T. It isn't a how-to guide for living with chronic fatigue syndrome, or a textbook for "CFS 101." It doesn't include a laundry list of symptoms, suggestions for treatment, or a list of theories about the cause. In many ways, it contains more questions than answers. It does give a general overview and background, and the afterward by Dr. Nancy Klimas is a good summary of the biology of CFIDS and an overview of current research.

This is a book that I want to press into the hands of family and friends, and say "Read this! This is what it's like." I would urge anyone who either has this disease or knows someone who has it, to read this book. I'm seriously thinking about buying a second copy to give to my doctor.

I was diagnosed with post-viral CFS in 1988. This book is an excellent description of living with CFS except for one thing: 3/4 of marriages affected by chronic illness break up, which means that most of us don't have the live-in support system she had.

Some disbelieving doctors like to attribute CFS to "secondary gain" or enablers who allow the patient to "enjoy the sick role". Unfortunately, for many CFS patients, there's no enabler and the only thing you gain is the stress of trying to make ends meet with no income.

Wall tells of having someone run her bath, gently wash her, dress her, and help her back to bed. That's a luxury most of us don't enjoy. If I'm not well enough to cook, I don't get dinner; if I cannot safely get in and out of the tub by myself, I don't bathe (on a cold winter day when I needed a bath to warm up, I got stuck in the tub for over an hour because I lacked the strength to boost myself up and out, and there was no one to call for help).

Wall's live-in support structure allowed her to do what those of us who live alone can't: use all her energy to write a book to explain to the rest of the world what it's like to be trapped in a body and brain that don't function.

I recommend this not only to patients, but to their friends and family as one of the best patient-written books I've read.

I found this to be an excellent book on CFIDS. I too suffer from it and feel sometimes I am the only one in my corner of the world that has it. It is helpful to read about someone else who has the same symptoms so I realize I am not " losing it" and it is real. The author also provides comphrensive data relating to medical, historical, and social aspects of this troubling illness. I would highly suggest this to people who have CFIDS and those who want to learn more about it. It is a a very readable book that is packed with information and is not boring or dry.

I have suffered from CFS since the late 70's although I was able to "push" through the majority of those years. I am now back in an accute phase and found Dorothy Wall's book fascinating , beautifully written and helpful. It helped make my illness real for me since I have never "looked" ill and have learned to doubt that what I have is real. I found it a story of the truth, which was most refreshing and inspiring.

I didn't really know what to expect from the title of this book, but it certainly was not what I could have even imagined. This is truly a work of a very vivid imagination and a very skilled writer. The images are so clear that you can almost hear the water slopping around the hull of the boat.

The descriptions of the beastmen (Noah and his family) are brutal--a realistic portray of primative peoples. The descriptions of the land, water, and air are poetic. The conversations of the crows are believable, meaningful, and insightful providing a unique look at the old story of Noah's ark. This is not a children's Sunday School version of the story. But rather it provides new dimension to an old tale emphasizing the relationship of man, animals, God, and the elements.
It was difficult to follow at times, the crow's relationship to the other crows and other animals was at times confusing. That is especially true when the bird died and its soul became a part of the entity responsible for the death. However, this is a book to be read again; once one had a better feel of these relationships, the story might take on an even clearer meaning.

In short, this is not an easy read, but it is certainly interesting, creative, and not like anything else.

I originally stumbled on this book in the New Arrivals section of the library. After reading, I had to gift it to a friend. Not only has the author done considerable homework into the essence of "Crow Medicine" he has also taken the bird's point of view and created a piece that will alter your relationship to all the 'natrual world' in a way that is so needed today. I hope more books like this will appear and become widely read. A big thank you to Layne Maheu from me and all the crows in my neighborhood.

This crow gets it right! Armed with a keen observation, a poetic eye, and ear, I AM gracefully and eloquently creates an avian world of black birds amidst humans. And they all are participating in one of history's most influential events. The building of the ark, and the great flood. Original, moving, and fascinating, Song of the Crow is a book to buy and give to your friends.

At once lyrical and spare, Song of The Crow is a literary feast. I especially enjoyed journeying through the perspective of the crow "I Am" as he grew from bald and gangly dawdling in the nest to flapping through the realm of the "beastmen" and their often-incomprehensible beliefs and behaviors. How interesting that his first encounter with these creatures would be of one of them chopping down his very own tree--his life--for the building of a saving ark in which he would not be invited to ride. This is far more than a re-telling of a biblical story, but also a meditation on survival, religion, freedom of choice, and humankind's circle of oft-repeated foibles and failings--the environmental implications of which are timely, indeed, as we face the growing possibility of our own great flood. Bravo to Mr. Maheu and Unbridled Press for a brilliant debut! I will look forward with great interest to this new author's next endeavor.

When I first picked up the book and read the description, I confess I had some trepidation that this would be a book that was going to be "good for me," much like raw carrots. Much to my delight, Song of the Crow was as shameless a page-turner as a Michael Connelly mystery, and as intricately constructed as a Napolean pastry. Yes, it's good for you, too. The prose on virtually every page could qualify as poetry; there are images that have not yet left me since I finished reading the book. But the literary conceit of having a crow as narrator, which I initially thought would be clunky and false, manages to feel seamless and true. The narrator crow and his family are as three-dimensional characters as any human could be, maybe more.

This text marks the beginnings of modern linguistics, and is a must for any linguistic bookshelf. This text is, surprisingly, somewhat difficult to find in bookstores, so I was happy to find this affordable copy at Amazon. I recommend this book, along with Bloomfield's Language, to anyone interested in the structuralist foundations of contemporary linguistics.

If you need to know the foundation of structuralism then you need to read this book. This is where it all begins and the translation of this edition flows well and is perfect for the beginner and novice alike.

One problem with this translation that potential readers should be aware of: If you are reading this to get a better understanding of the terms used by structuralists (signifier and signified) then you need to get the other version. This edition uses the words signification and signal.

Although the rest of text is fine, the exclusion of signifier and signified is, I believe, the only major drawback to the book since these were the terms adopted by structuralist and post-structuralist.

The thirties of the last century cradled the birth and growth of structuralist Linguistcs in many horizons like phonology ,grammar , etc ... and if we were about to ask who embraced that stream , we would - undebatably - find the name of Ferdinand De Saussure.

This fine book of his explained his structural approach to language and established a series of theoretical distinctions that have become basic to the study of linguistics.

Saussure made a differentiation between the (actual speech) or what we call a spoken language ,and the knowledge underlying speech that speakers share about (what is) grammatical.
For Saussure speech represents instances of grammar and the mission of the linguist is to find the underlying rules of a particular language from examples found in speech.
this is different than the descriptivist's p.o.v ,since the structuralist sees grammar as a set of relationships that account for speech ,rather than a set of instances of speech.

Once you grasp the main concepts of this oeuvre you can go further by reading Bloomfield's works on Structuralism.

This book comprised from lecture notes of Saussure to his students in Geneva (compiled posthumously by his students) is a work which changed the course of lingustics since its publication. In this book he makes distinctions which have later become central to discussions of linguistics like:

1. Sign as the unity of signifier (letters, sounds, image) and signified (meaning implied by the signifier)
2. Language (langage) as the unity of langue (code - language as a system) and parole (usage)
3. Syncrhonic (language as static system) and diachronic lingustics (langauge as an ever changing, evolving system)
4. Retrospective (language evolution so far) and prospective linguistics (future evolution of a language).

Many linguists have added a cloud of debate over these concepts, but non explains as lucidly as the master who propounded these. For those confused bout semiotics, semiology etc., this work is a reference point for the original meaning of the term 'semiology' as intended by Saussure. Many of Saussure's binary distinctions became the central to an approach to social sciences called structuralism which still holds sway in social sciences.

Ferdinand De Saussure was well known as the father of modern literary structuralism, but he was also an avid lover of the modern sausage! De Saussure, "the sausage" (as his good friends called him) was a fun loving linguist.

I think this is a great reference book to have for anybody who is interested in the world of philosophy and religion. However its only shortcoming is there is more coverage on western civilization than others. It is understandable in any case because of the great difficulties involved in covering all civilizations. I hope the future expanded editions may remedy this to some extent. I am very glad to have a copy of it.

The ordered book arrived on time in good condition. Thanks.

This is one of the most readable books that I own, which seems out of character for a "Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion" but it is very true. I can sit down with this book for hours at any given time. I think a big part of that is the excellent cross-reference system, so you can start anywhere and then see the linkages between different thoughts; which means that every reading of the book is like a journey. Another great feature of the book is that it covers both ideas and the people who forwarded them in the linking system so you can start with a study on epistemology and then end up ranging over half the book because you link to the people with the ideas and then back to the other ideas that the particular philospher had.

The drawbacks to such an approach are clear. After all, the book has to have some limitation to its length and it is covering many authors who wrote many thousands of pages on their own ideas, so the articles have to do quite a bit of summing up. Since it is absurd to expect deeper coverage from such a book anyway, I feel just fine highly recommending it.

When I am bored with everything, this is one of the books I like to pick up and browse through. There's so much material here, I'm bound to find something interesting or even inspiring.

I have been using this book for years, but I never had to learn anything that is in this book, being so amateur in philosophy that I don't have to trouble myself with the ideas for which most of the people in this book have become famous. I have usually expected things to be much simpler than the information which this book has to offer. It has nice definitions of some Greek and Latin words that I find meaningful, once I know what they are supposed to be about. On the Hebrew source of the word "Gehenna," the place used for "the city dump of Jerusalem" where fires burned constantly, the extra information, "according to tradition, [first-born] children had been sacrificed there to the god Moloch," provides a lot of insight into its use in The New Testament, where the King James Version often uses "hell."

For years, this book was my main source of information on Giordano Bruno (1548-1600). I suspect that it is right about "he was condemned to death, and burned alive in the Campo Dei Fiori on February 17, 1600." I have tried to make sense of a few of Bruno's books, like THE EXPULSION OF THE TRIUMPHANT BEAST, but I'm inclined to accept the list of main ideas in this dictionary as the sum of his accomplishments. Dying for the idea that "The universe is infinite" makes more sense than some of his monads, and "To consider reality in its multiplicity" is an achievement that I can appreciate.

On the other hand, the entry for Paul Tillich (1886-1965) illustrates a theologian's ability to distinguish "between three forms of reasoning~heteronymous, autonomous, and theonomous." I thought heteronymous would be pretty good, but Tillich thought that even "Autonomous reason takes its principles from within, but thereby reveals itself as vacuous and tautological." Being able to accept that Tillich would say that is part of being able to appreciate what this book is all about. I'm not saying that these guys are always right about anything.

If you only read one book about the Donner Party, make it this one! The Donner Chronicles tells the story of doomed pioneers and their struggle to survive. It keeps the reader at the edge of his seat and provides great detail of the period and the people. Highly recommended for history buffs who want to read history as though it's a novel instead of a dry textbook. Great photos, maps and graphics add to the text.

Frank Mullen has added an important book to the history of Donner Party. The tragedy has been the focus of writing since the spring of 1847, but Mullen has found a fresh way to make the story understandable and, perhaps more importantly, human.

The book is a daily chronolgy of the year that it took the party to travel from Illinois to California, and each two-page spread of this large book is carefully laid out and presents a mix of graphics and text. It is rewarding if read straight through, yet very accessible if your reading style is more "grazing" than linear.

Mullen clearly has done his homework. The sheer volume of detail and complexity in the story can be overwhelming, and Mullen includes the details that are needed to clarify and develop the people in the story. He includes wonderful quotes from diaries and supporting material, and drawings of interesting side issues such as an analysis of the probable shape of the "Pioneer Palace Car." Additionally, Marilyn Newton's photographs of the trail as seen today make it real for a modern reader.

When I have given this book as a gift to anyone with an interest in American History, it has been very well received. A truly great book.

What a great account of a tragic historical event. I felt like i was right there with them. The day -by-day account made for easy reading and let you understand the exact timeline of what the Donner party went through. Frank Mullen and the Reno-Gazette did a great job and should be very proud to keep this history alive.

Yesterday I flew to California from Charlotte,NC. I spent my time in a jetliner, sipping a cool beverage, watching a movie on my laptop and towards the end of my journey, occasionally pertaking the beauty of snow-capped jagged mountain tops of the Sierra Nevada.

But, it was so different a mere 150 years ago. One had to travel in animal driven wagons carrying enough food and other necessities for the long and perilous journey, which could be brutally and tragically cut short by wild animals, unfriendly Indians or any natural calamity. No maps, no rest areas or highways or motels. Luck was the chief ingredient of success those days. This book tells the story of one such journey, where the travellers ran out of luck when they chose to use a shortcut and got snowbound in the Sierra Nevadas. What followed was a struggle for survival with human emotions running raw.

This book narrates this story on a day by day basis and is adorned with a lavish collection of color as well as black and white photographs of the trail and artifacts from those days. It takes one back all those years when one almost feels like a member of the doomed party. I recommend it highly for anyone with or without any interest in the events described!

On a personal note, I found one photograph especially poignant where the proven and the shortcut trails clearly branched. I could feel the indecision in the minds of the emigrants which sealed their fate.

The full-color, glossy photographs of major landmarks and points of interest along the Emigrant Trail from Springfield, MO to Johnson's Ranch in Bear Valley are stunning. The color photos, all taken by Marilyn Newton, are grouped together in the beginning of the book, comprising 20 slick pages of almost 50 photos. It's hard to believe that wagon ruts from over 150 years ago still exist in places; happily, our continuous farming, building and paving haven't obliterated all traces of the route that so many people rode--and walked--in order to reach California.

Portraits, maps, drawings and sketches from the period are interspersed with sepia-toned contemporary photographs, some taken by Newton and some by other photographers, and appear on every page of the book. "The Donner Party Chronicles" is visually rich and stimulating. The area around Donner Lake and the route the relief parties followed are depicted in all seasons of the year. Even in black-and-white, the photos of Donner Lake and the surrounding mountains demonstrate the ruggedness of the terrain and deeply impress upon the reader the hopelessness the members of the Donner Party must have felt upon being snowed-in at the lake.

The book reads like a journal that would have been kept by one of the emigrants traveling with the Donner Party. The text is reprinted from installments journalist Frank Mullen, Jr. published in the weekly newspaper "The Reno Gazette-Journal" over the course of an entire year. The daily routine followed, problems encountered, and decisions made by the Donner Party are chronicled in a concise manner. The entries are short, most three or four paragraphs in length.

One very interesting feature of "The Donner Party Chronicles" is the map of the Emigrant Trail that appears on every left-hand page of the book, with the progress of the doomed emigrants clearly marked with a red dot. As you read along through the book, you see on every other page exactly where the emigrants were as the day's events took place. I found this map extremely helpful and fascinating. Watching the movement of the Donner Party as they traveled on foot at the pace of slow, plodding oxen made me better able to understand how great an undertaking their overland journey was. I shared this book with my husband, my Dad and my father-in-law, and they enjoyed it almost as much as I did!

This book is well worth the price, for the interesting text as well as the terrific photos; you can easily find what you're looking for in the pages, as each page is dated and the day's entry fairly short.

I've read "Getting What You Came For" and other highly recommended books out there about graduate school and academics, but this one is certainly the most up-to-date, detailed, and clearly focused on those who want a tenure-track job. Although this book is written for the humanities and I'm in a social science Ph.D. program I found it very helpful and it was easy to 'translate' to my field. If you know you want an academic career I highly recommend this engaging and well thought out book.

Finally! There's no better advice for graduate students in the humanities than what Prof. Colon Semenza offers in this incredibly detailed, thoroughly honest guide. I share other readers' regret that Graduate Study for the 21st Century wasn't available when I began graduate study in English. I've recommended this essential book to everyone I know in the humanities as well as the social sciences (where Colon Semenza's insights also apply in many respects).

It's about time this book was written. I wouldn't want to take a class with him, but his book is simply phenomenal.

This book was recommended to me by a well respected professor at my university. Because I am a fairly new graduate student who plans on getting a PhD in literature and teaching as a university professor, I figured it could only be helpful to give this book a serious perusal.
It is perhaps one of the smartest things I have done in informing myself about what lies ahead. There is a plethora of information offered to those who are automatically expected to know how to go about pursuing a tenure-track position in the humanities, but ultimately, do not.
This book covers everything from CVs to what, exactly, is expected from you in the way of teaching, research, and service. There is an extensive amount of material covering the importance of conferences etc. as well as a realistic lay out of what you can expect to be doing over the next decade of your life. The book can be intimidating, and downright scary, but serious scholars must understand that reality should always be preferable to a generous "sugar coating."
Perhaps what is most refreshing about this book is that it is laid out very simply...no bombastic and/or pedantic language! Nothing annoys me more than a scholar who tries to unload his entire lexicon in one page of information.
This book has proved to be invaluable to me and has given me a number of tools to help me further my career more quickly and efficiently.
Perhaps Semenza's best advice is this: "Do not pursue a PhD unless you are absolutely OBSESSED with your field"---with all that a person is expected to endure in his/her graduate program, this statement couldn't be more true.
So, if you have any questions concerning the proper path to take in beginning your career in academics/humanities, buy this book! It is worth every penny!

I am a tenured professor of English (coicidentally, my specialty is Semenza's -- early modern drama -- I should say, however, I don't know him). For several years now I have been running workshops on the job market, serving as my department's "placement director. This is easily the best book on the topic out there, an essential work for any graduate student in the humanities. When I read it I immediately disposed of stacks of photocopies (sample letters, etc.) and stopped preparing a rather lame powerpoint presentation. Now, I simply recommend (read:insist) students take a look at this book.